European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1963, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Or the commander in chief in there too. By radio Telephone or teletype it can put him in touch almost instantly with the Stretc Glt air come Sac Headquarters it Omaha. Neb., with . Military command around the Globe or with almost any spot on Earth that can be reached by mean better than Tom Tom Bents. Since or. Kennedy la a flying president he in Dom travels More than a few Miles except by air an Aerial command pos always goes along in a separate Jet crammed with intricate electronic gear Anda . On the ground an armed guard is posted around the plane around the clock As la one for or. Kennedy s plane. At sea the Cruiser Northampton is a alternate National command Post. It too has elaborate communications plus a Helleon Ter pad and quarters for the president y and other key  at times when the chief executive visits other countries with limited outside com mull Cuoni the Northampton Tandi by off the coast. On land extra channels Aro available through the talking  this is a four t engine Piston plane converted from former Sac Tanker. It is assigned to the air National guard and is used also Orother than presidential purposes. It could. Wreva As a presidential command Post though. A Kennedy aide said that it pro Recti hit capability of pushing the  main assignment with a travelling Whit House is to Supply additional Chan to Nils or Ordinary messages. It has a switch Board too and it carries collapsible Unten. No that can be erected on the ground to u � or so fee tit the talking Bird does t Wing along on every presidential trip. But it was use Don two to latin America. One took or. For Kennedy to Colombia and Venezuela an the other to Costa Rica or a conference this Spring with six other presidents. A the big air Force let or. Kennedy uses most often also can put him in touch with Sac or military com mind i anywhere. Butt has fewer Channel Ihnn the travelling command pants. On the receiving end it also tins television for entertainment of the president nil his guest. Last fall the president saw some of the bus Cbill world series from .15.000 feet Over Ohio. The intricate communications system atm. Kennedy s fingertips is o vital element in american National Security. So is the safety and survival of the Man at the top and some of the other key military Ancl Villon officials under him. Franklin d. Roosevelt was the first presi Dent to Fly on a wartime Mission across the South Atlantic to North Africa for conference at Casablanca with Churchill. That was in 1943.All the presidents since have set lying firsts president Harry s. Truman waste first to Fly within this country to the coast and Back in 1945. Or. Eisenhower waste first to take the controls of a plane. He once had a private Pilot s License and he flew a Small two engine plane part of the Way from Washington to his Arm a Gettysburg. Or. Eisenhower was the first president to use a Jet or a . Kennedy was the first to Fly in a Jet powered helicopter the first to make night landings at the White House and the first or whom Kite flying was halted on the Washington Monument grounds so no strings would tangle in chopper Blades. In the 20 years of presidential flying there never have been any reports of close brushes with danger. Col James b. Swindal the lean bronzed,45-year old presidential Pilot says the worst thing that has happened in the two years plus he has been flying or. Kennedy was a tire  decision on whether weather is All right or presidential flying is Swindal  the chief executive overrule him that s never come up he said. We did it around or 30 minutes once on a trip to Ohio lust year. But he did t put Jonnny  what kind of  in or. Kennedy he works just ii Haut nil the time. Once in a while he Wimis to know about Weatherny destination sometime he comes up to the cockpit on Long trips. Sometimes it the end of o trip he tells us it Wax a grand  the Pilot and the Crew try to keep  Content with special Colgant a sup ply of hard Candy gum and tasty  takes two or three Days or More for example to net up anything other than a routine trip to Florida or Cape cod. The course a to be plotted alter Nate Landing n pot it picked special precautions arranged at Slop permission of toned for a Fly Over if the flight crosses foreign  for a Man with Swindal s air time and expert crewmen training  practice landings and takeoffs. Instrument approaches procedures or handling such emergencies As engine fires and failures and loss of Cabin pressure an cover the course ahead of time on a trip  presidential Pilot and presidential air Craft commander Swindal has 30 men under him. Half of them Are aboard when he files the presidential  Are co plots. Then there Are a Navi Gator two night engineers two radio operators four flight attendants and our be Rural to  Security guards and a Security officer there Are 14 All told under Swindal ride the Back up plane. This is a spare that always goes along in Case anything happens to af1.af1 is a flexible title that shifts to what Ever plane the president rides. It could be any of 32  helicopters Are the Domain of the army and Marine corps. Each operates our for the president and other Passen  there is a huge cargo plane of the Alt Force which hauls b White House limousine and a secret service car anywhere they Are needed even abroad. Or Ken Nedy s Bubble top limousine is becoming known in other lands. Usually af1 is the big Jet. This to a adaptation of the Boeing 707-320b. Especially tailored to presidential needs and com forts. It offers him on Perla apartment with a living room bedroom Bath an Kitchen. The new Jet is Blue White and Silver with United states of America in big Black letters Down each Side. Its 7.000-mile Range puts or Kenned within reach of any place in Europe non Slop. In the other direction. Japan is Only one Stop Awny and a return trip Riding ail winds would require no Stop. The presidential planes and presidential Pilot s office Are part of Sam Short for special air my Salon. This in turn mean the 1254th air transport Wing of the Mili tary air transport service Mats of the air Force. When Sam files Secretary of Slat a Dean Rusk to Paris on business the state department pays tha air Force at International Tariff rates. Other agencies Are billed similarly. And if or. Kennedy uses Sam or a political trip the democratic National committee is  White House and the committee Learned about this last fall when or. Ken Nedy went campaigning and Sam put no food aboard for or. Kennedy or anyone Elsa that was up to the committee. One of the stewards found time at on Estop in Michigan to dash to a store and buy a Steak for or. Kennedy at least out of his pocket besides the our Large jets Sam has six smaller  president Lyndon b. Johnson frequently uses one of the latter. Mrs Ken Nedy does too on occasion. Imm. I i ill the stars and stripes